An Absence
by myBlueprints
Summary: It takes Abbie going away from Sleepy Hollow for a week for Ichabod to realise that part of his happiness he depends on talking to Abbie every single day. Seven days of Abbie and Ichabod subtly missing each other (and the little things in between). Set after episode 7.
1. Chapter 1

It's feels strange that she has to knock now, she's never had to do it before. The only time she remembers knocking when Crane was concerned, was the day she got him from the motel. But now that Katrina's back, she can't just rock up inside the cabin as if he's the only person who lives there. She highly doubts she will find them in a delicate position, but still, courtesy dictates that she knocks, so she does. Almost immediately the door flies open.

'Miss Mills,' Katrina appears.

'Is Crane home?' Abbie gets straight to the point. She knows he's home. It's four in the afternoon, he wouldn't be anywhere else on a Thursday if he wasn't with her. But again, stupid manners... (she ignores that she didn't greet the woman who opened the door for her).

'Oh,' Katrina steps out of the way, 'yes he is, please come in.' Abbie does, her eyes searching for Crane until she sees him at the table, books spread out before him. She's glad that she won't be forced to stand around making small talk with Katrina. She walks to him at the table, 'Crane.'

He looks up from his reading, 'Leftenant?' Both his voice and face make her think that he's more than happy to see her. She can't blame him, the home situation must be more than uncomfortable for him. It's only been two days since they found Katrina and healed her from her mysterious Henry-induced pregnancy, they can't have patched their broken relationship in such a short time. And now, he's forced to live with a woman he no longer trusts.

'I have good news and bad news, what do you want to hear first?'

He studies her with a strange expression on his face, 'How bad is the bad news?' Experience has taught them that there are degrees of badness when it comes to what they deal with.

Again, she goes straight to the point, there is no other way to say it, 'I'm being sent to New York later today.'

A moment of silence passes, and then, 'And the good news?'

She bites back a smile, he won't like the good news either, 'The good news is, you don't have to worry about coming with me.'

'You're leaving Sleepy Hollow?' She nods, unwilling to tell him for how long, he won't like it. Frankly, she doesn't like it either, but when the Sherriff tells you the State of New York is investing its money in making you a better police officer, the option of saying no just isn't available. He should understand that, if she explains it to him.

'I trust it's only temporary,' he says, but what she hears is him asking how long she'll be gone for. She decides, however, not to tell him the exact number of days, he won't be pleased.

'I will be coming back Crane, I'm not going to stay in New York forever.'

'And what of our battle?'

'That's not up to us, whether I go or stay doesn't change evil being evil.' She doesn't want to talk about it anymore, she's told him what she came to, she has to leave. To confirm that she's still on schedule, she glances at her watch; she still an hour and thirty minutes before she flies out of Sleepy Hollow.

'I have to go,' she tells him, but doesn't move. It's not clear to her why she doesn't leave. It's when he asks her a question that she realises she's waiting for his questions, she subconsciously knows he will ask her questions.

'How long will you be gone for, you still haven't answered me that.'

Abbie pokes out the tip of her tongue for a bit, reluctant to tell him, 'Four to five days. Six at most.' She actually knows she will be there for six days, it's confirmed.

Just as she thought, he explodes. He doesn't explode, but his face does, breaking into the most unbelieving and outraged expression she's ever seen him wear.

'Six days?!' as if his facial expression isn't enough, he stands up in fury.

'Hey,' her hands go up in surrender, 'it's not my fault the government wants us better educated on dealing with criminals. I just happen to not like it as well.' Six days away from Sleepy Hollow, the centre of the coming Apocalypse, are too many days, so much could go wrong. If it were up to her, she wouldn't go.

'Surely someone else can go in your place.'

To answer that, she only lifts her eyebrows. He knows just as well as she does that she's easily one of the best officers they have over at the Sherriff's Department.

'It is a long time Leftenant,' he says in the sulky voice he sometimes uses when she doesn't humour him.

'And I'm sure you'll miss me terribly...it's my job Crane, I have to go, this isn't up to me.'

'I don't like it, it feels like a plot to separate us...' he says quietly. Abbie chooses to ignore that, she's thought of it too, but it doesn't change anything, whether she likes it or not, she has to go to New York.

'Anyway, I've asked Jenny to help you out with whatever you might need,' she is specifically referring to Katrina, 'And I've spoken to the bakery...they'll be delivering in the mornings.' She's always believed that she brings him pastries every morning, because he likes them...until she was at the bakery two hours ago arranging for them to deliver his favourites everyday...what she believed is not the case after all.

He smiles at her, though she can see that he's trying not to, 'Thank you.'

'If anything happens, you have my number. I'll see you next week.' She starts to leave when he calls her.

'Leftenant?'

'What?' she turns back.

'Be safe please.'

She has to think about what to say in reply to that, it's not that she doesn't have an immediate answer for him, it's that she can't assure him nothing will happen to her. It was only two weeks ago that she nearly drowned in the public library; saying 'I will,' could very well be a lie.

'Stay away from my car,' she finally decides to say.

'You're not travelling with it?'

'No, but that doesn't mean you and Jenny can use it. I don't want you anywhere near my car without me or a license. Got it?'

'I wouldn't dream of it,' he answers, 'Have a safe journey.'

'I'll text you when I arrive just so you don't think the plane crashed or something.' It would be negligent of her if she didn't tell him that she arrived safely, he would never stop worrying.

She makes it to the airport with twenty minutes to spare. There are two detectives who are going with her from the precinct, but she hasn't seen them since she arrived. Not that she wants to stick with them, she only wants to know that they made it okay. Later, when the plane is about to take off, her colleagues make it into the plane, offering her small smiles of acknowledgement as they pass her seat.

When the plane lands, she waits twenty minutes with her colleagues for a taxi. At the hotel, they're assigned into rooms; she's sharing with someone from NYPD named Debby, a nice enough looking redhead who just happens to really talk non-stop.

Abbie takes a shower, skips dinner (mostly to avoid meeting the rest of the officers) and climbs into bed for a good night's rest. Just before she falls asleep, she remembers that she promised to text Crane.

Abbie: I got here. Still alive.

She believes he won't reply, but three seconds later, her phone buzzes.

Ichabod: I'm glad. I trust you didn't encounter problems?

Abbie: Seriously Crane? Can't we talk tomorrow? I just want to sleep right now.

Ichabod: Very well. Goodnight then.


	2. Chapter 2

Day 1

**Abbie**

At five in the morning, she wakes up in a rush. She takes a shower in a rush, because her roommate Debby, finds nothing wrong with taking a fifty minute shower when she has a roommate who also needs to shower. Abbie manages to take a shower in seven minutes, getting dressed in five [in the rush, she forgets her phone on the bed] and just makes it for roll call at six am. Introductions are made, all the need-to-know people are introduced. Their training officers and guides are presented. It's a tedious affair. They are fifty officers from all over the state of New York in total. First on the agenda, is a three-hour lesson on criminal behaviour. The lecture reminds her of her college classes; boring, long and given by someone who respects the tactics of criminals (to some extent). She thinks they'll get a break at nine when the class is over, but they have to rush out to the open forest for practical training. Unfortunately, this training doesn't involve guns or any kinds of weapons. It's just them, in groups of five, and their bodies. Abbie learns that a three-hour session of working in groups, is not the best way to go for police officers; no one listens to anyone, no one trusts the other enough to allow them to lead. All in all, if real bad guys had been involved, all ten groups would've failed, and probably died too. They're allowed a quick refreshing thirty-minutes' shower; that is, literally thirty minutes for all the groups, members and all, because they have to be in an Extended Criminal Profiling class in the following ten minutes, for the next hour and twenty minutes. The class reminds her of the job she would've had, had she gone to the FBI, but luckily, paying attention to something makes time fly by. The next thing she knows, it's two o'clock and Debby is mentioning something about lunch.

She's hungry, but she wants to lie down more.

'How long's lunch?' she asks Debby. Her roommate tells her its two hours, thirty minutes. All Abbie can think to do is lie down for that time. She returns to their room and falls onto the bed immediately, without remembering that she has such a thing as a phone. In fact, she falls on the phone itself, not feeling it beneath her.

She wakes up to the sound of Debby's singing voice.

'Hey, you're awake...we have ten minutes until the combat exercise,' she says through a blinding smile. Abbie thinks Debby must really enjoy everything she does in life.

'Already?' she complains, it seems like she just lay down a second ago.

'Oh come on, you've slept for two hours...we need to go.'

Reluctantly, she pulls herself up from the bed (the phone still forgotten) and goes to the bathroom to wash her face. In another two minutes, she's heading out with Debby to the combat exercise.

It's a long exercise, but only because all of the fifty officers get ten minutes of a different situation (hostage, negotiation, crime scene etc.) to work on. The rest of the officers have to observe and later comment on what they would've done differently. It's extremely long, but very helpful. She particularly likes one hostage situation that a guy named Hank who works with Debby handles, she thinks he handles it pretty well. She slips him a small smile, which she doesn't really think he notices, but apparently he does, because he shows her his perfect teeth. Abbie has to look away.

'He's not as nice as his smile,' Debby whispers to her, 'He's actually quite a jerk.' It doesn't matter, Abbie thinks, she's not interested in making friends anyway, her life is far too complicated for new people to jump in. When she remembers her complicated life, she remembers Crane. It's amazing how she's only remembering him-she checks her watch for the time-at seven in the evening. It's the longest she's ever gone without seeing or talking to him, she wonders why she didn't notice until now. She knows why, her whole day has been filled with exercises that needed her attention and had her rushing. But still, she can't excuse herself for forgetting him. For the last six training people, she thinks of Crane. What the bakery delivered for him in the morning, what he did, how he was coping with Katrina. The part about Katrina, she pushes aside, because well, the man has been apart from his wife for a long time, she would be a fool to think he wasn't catching up on lost time. That particularly bothers her in a way she doesn't understand, she doesn't want to think of Crane that way with Katrina, it's just wrong. Suddenly remembering that she owns a phone, she pats her pockets for it, she doesn't find it and then remembers that the last time she touched it, was when she made the bed in the morning, it's still in the room. The swear word that comes from her mouth is automatic; she can't wait until the exercise is over.

It takes another hour, because officer number forty-eight has completely gone about his exercise the wrong way, he's broken around ten rules of protocol, and he's cost the team an extra hour of explanations from the instructors.

Eight fifteen, she and Debby return to their room, both of them deciding to skip dinner.

'Well, I'm just going to fall asleep,' Debby heads for her bed, 'I didn't know I was this tired.' Abbie doesn't pay her much attention, all she really cares for is the phone on her bed. Without wasting time, she presses a button to light up the phone.

8 missed calls. 2 voicemails. 10 text messages. The alerts are displayed one below the other. Normally, the call log is most important to her, but in this case, she wants to read the messages. As she sits on the bed, she opens the messages. Immediately, she sees they are all from Crane, message after message they are shown. None of them are important, just silly things like how he loves what the bakery delivered and how Katrina discovered television. She reads each text three times, it makes her feel a little closer to him. In everyday life, he always has something to say to her, she likes that even when she's away, he's found a way to be himself.

She's almost not surprised that all eight missed calls are from him, but the voicemails surprise her a lot. The first one was left around lunch time when she was sleeping:

I've been thinking...you should return to Sleepy Hollow. It's not prudent for you to stay away so long. We have much work to do against the forces of evil and you being so far away puts us at a disadvantage. Consider returning soon.

She laughs quietly at the voicemail, he probably has no idea what to do without her. The second voicemail is less formal and a little direct, she holds her breath four words into listening:

This is the first day since we met that I haven't spoken to you...I'm going to bed now, but know that I feel deprived somehow. I have grown too accustomed to seeing you and talking to you...and the reality that I'm presented with at the moment is rather unpleasant. I hold fast to the hope that we will talk tomorrow. Goodnight Miss Mills.

Abbie listens to the voicemail a second time (after she's inhaled), taking in the lazy tone of his voice and the small tired breaths she hears him make. More than she knows she's supposed to, she feels sorry for him, though her mind is reasoning that he has Katrina now, her absence shouldn't be such a problem, well at least not to the point of eight missed calls. Checking the time the voicemail was left, she realises, it was not more than an hour ago. Abbie gets ready to call him, but then remembers that he said he was going to bed, he would no doubt already be asleep. Or if not asleep, he would be in bed, next to his wife...calling him will be awkward if not downright weird. But the weird thing is, she does want to call him, even to just say 'hallo' and hear him say it back. No, she shakes her head, she'll just send him a text, and he will read it in the morning, then they will talk tomorrow.

Hey. I left my phone in the hotel. It's just been crazy today. We'll talk tomorrow.

She hits the send button, then places the phone next to her on the bed. No sooner than she's removed one trainer from her foot, then her phone starts ringing. Without knowing that she is, her face breaks into a smile, because she knows it's him, she doesn't need to check the screen for the name.

'I thought you'd be asleep,' she says the second she presses the phone to her ear.

She hears him chuckle, it's a nice sound to hear for some reason, 'I have unsuccessfully been trying to for the last hour.'

'Hi,' she greets, trapping the phone between her ear and shoulder while she works on her other trainer.

'Good evening,' he greets back. Somewhere in her mind, Abbie wonders if he's left the bedroom to talk to her, because he isn't whispering, she doesn't ask him though. They talk all through her undressing for bed, her turning off the lights and climbing into bed. He does most of the talking, she only listens. Eventually, she can't keep up with him; tucked in bed and very aware of her exhaustion, she drifts off to sleep to the sound of his voice.


	3. Chapter 3

Day 2

**Ichabod**

He thinks he's dreaming, until he realises that he's not. His phone is actually ringing. He jerks up in bed, clumsily fumbling for his phone under his pillow in the dark. He only has two contacts in his directory; it can only be one person calling.

'Hallo?' He quickly gets a glimpse of the time, before he puts the phone to his ear, it's five in the morning, long before his waking hour.

'I fell asleep last night,' comes her voice from the other end. It feels oddly soothing to hear her voice first thing in the morning, before he's fully awake. For a moment he forgets everything that isn't Abbie. He can't recall too clearly now, but he thinks he's dreamt of her, back in Sleepy Hollow and they were in the Archives discussing a strategy for something. He wants to remember the dream, if he did actually have it, but then he feels movement next to him and he's brought back to reality.

'Really?' he shifts away from the body beside him, 'I didn't notice.' He also apparently doesn't notice that it's still early and his conversation could very well wake Katrina next to him.

'Ha ha,' she says, 'Sorry I'm calling so early, I just wanted to apologise for falling asleep on you.'

'You could've sent a message.' He isn't suggesting, it's rather that he's realised that she could've sent a message, but she chose to call, even so early in the morning.

'I didn't think to.' As clearly as though she was there with him, he can see her make a small shrug with her words, he can't help smiling a little.

'It's all right,' he assures her, 'I don't hold it against you.' Again, he feels movement beside him, but this time he's irritated for some reason. Swiftly, he pulls the sheet away from him, moving just as quickly out of the bed.

'Can you talk? she asks after a moment of silence. Although he can't see much, not even an outline, he looks back to the bed he came from to see if he's woken Katrina; if she is awake, there would be no point in leaving the room, but he decides to leave anyway.

With a smile (after he's closed the bedroom door behind him), he replies, 'I can.'

'I've got around thirty minutes, thanks to my roommate's long showers...you better tell me something good.' Her invitation opens his mind to the things he wanted to tell her yesterday. It's strange now that he thinks of it, when she was in Sleepy Hollow, he never thought to tell her about amusing things that he saw on TV or the latest thing he discovered (until it came up in conversation they were having), but since she left, he found himself thinking of her more than he usually did. Everything he saw, all the new things he learnt of, he found that he wanted her to know about them, only she wasn't there with him, so he settled for text messaging, cramming as much information into one text as was maximum.

'Well,' he scratches his beard, 'where do I begin?' he considers the thought, where to really begin. Last night he barely told her anything, they only spoke about trivial things.

'With something really good,' she offers, and he can imagine she's making that face that only she can, a cross between amusement and intrigue. There was the incident of when Katrina found the steam iron, that was really something...but he doesn't want to talk to her about Katrina, in fact, when he thinks that, he suddenly only wants to hear about her, how she is, how she settled in, he wants to know everything.

'I would much rather hear about your roommate if you would,' he suggests. He doesn't want to come right out and say that he wants to know how she's doing, at least with that question, he can subtly drop in questions about her state.

She starts with everything that's nice about her roommate Debby, and moves on to the course in general. He likes the parts where she laughs at the silly things she saw her fellow officers commit during their practical training in the forest. She sounds the same as she always does, and yet she sounds different. Perhaps it's the effect of the phone, he reasons with himself, the recording must be changing the sound of her voice to a more...appealing tone, mesmerising even. He has to clear his throat a bit. It's not that she talks non-stop, it's that he doesn't seem to notice that he hasn't said a single thing in seven minutes, which is an incredible thing for him. He's also walked all the way into the kitchen, which he only realises when he sees the first star shining in the sky.

'Are you asleep?' she asks sharply. Quietly, he jumps from his reverie.

'I'm still very awake.' More so than before evidently, because his senses are very aware of the sound of her voice. Has it always been that attractive over the phone? It's as though it's drawing his mind to a peaceful place.

'You haven't said anything for a really long time, that's weird for you,' she says.

'I would've,' he tells her, 'had you given me a chance.'

'Like I said, I only have thirty minutes,' she pauses (and he hears a small sound as though she's shifting), 'around twenty now, so...tell me something. Anything. I feel abnormal not running around in the woods, I kind of got used to it.'

He did too, he can't imagine how life will be after all of it is over. He tells her exactly that, it's not the best conversation to have over the phone, and neither is it what she's asked him to tell her, but it's talking. He's talking to her, she isn't objecting, which he finds very comforting. Five minutes later, she's telling him that she has to go, that he can reach her on her phone if something urgent comes up, but he probably shouldn't be too hopeful, because she'll be busy all day with the same things as yesterday. It's a shame he has to say goodbye, talking to her on the phone really felt as though she were there with him. Even after she's hung up, he stares at his phone as if her face will magically appear on the screen. For the first time in his life, he wonders why he doesn't have a photograph of her. Why should he, he asks himself too quickly, he sees her every day, there is no need for photographs when he never goes a day without seeing her. Until now, that is.

The beginning of the day goes by very well, he's in a good mood, something he doesn't notice entirely. When the bakery delivers the goodies at nine in the morning, he sits at the table and takes time to savour each and every bite. Katrina says something about sugar and health which he ignores [just because she doesn't like sweet food, it doesn't mean he shouldn't be allowed to enjoy them] and leaves her in the cabin for the Archives.

The place is void of life, he can't concentrate long enough to get through two pages of his book; it just feels wrong being in the Archives without her. He's been in there without her before, but at least then, he knew she was in Sleepy Hollow and would be making her appearance any time. Knowing that she's far from him now, makes him feel like he's committing a crime by being in the Archives without her. It is their place, of course there were times when other people came in there, but it was their place. Once every so often, he palms his phone with the thought of dialling her number. He has nothing he wants to say to her, it's just that without her, he doesn't know what to do, everything seems strange, because they were always together.

At around lunch time, his phone rings. It's Jenny and she wants him to go with her to a baseball game, he only says yes, because the book he's trying to read doesn't interest him. Jenny isn't a sport fan, at least not baseball, she's more into basketball.

'Abbie said you might get bored,' she shrugs, 'So I figured I could take you to a game. I was kind of hoping you'd want to stay at home with the wife so I wouldn't have to do it.'

'Shall we go see a basketball game then?' he asks after some thought on the matter. No, Jenny isn't her sister, and they have different personalities, but at least with Jenny (who's carefree nature oddly reminds him too much of Abbie's guarded one) he has company and he has less time to dwell on the fact that Abbie's gone. He hates the basketball game, it's tricky to understand, and all he's able to see is the ball going through the hoop, the part before that happens too quickly for him to catch. Later in the afternoon, they go for tacos and he tries milkshakes for the first time. When Jenny asks about how Katrina is doing, he responds by saying it will take some time before he regains the full relationship he had with her before.

'But you love her right?' Jenny asks in concern. He has to think about that, not that he doesn't love her, it's that he doesn't know how he's supposed to feel.

'I do,' he says.

'Then it'll work out. Abbie and I aren't all the way there yet, but when you love someone, you try your everything to make it work.' Her words make him feel guilty. It's only been two days, but he hasn't done anything to mend their relationship; he's been civil and accommodating, but more than that, he hasn't found in himself to want to do.

Jenny drops him back at the cabin much later, at around seven (I want to catch my TV show tonight, Jenny says as her excuse for not taking him to a bar for beers), and he thanks her for keeping him busy the whole day. It's once he's inside the house that the reality (that never left him) hits him; he hasn't seen Abbie all day, and it feels like centuries since they last spoke. He tries her number only to be cut off three rings later. A buzz, a second later erases the sharp hurt he feels.

In the middle of a thing. Call later. Better be urgent Crane!

Out loud, more out of relief than humour, he laughs, bringing Katrina into view from the kitchen.

'Oh,' she smiles in welcome, 'you're home. I made dinner.'

They eat in silence mostly, he has nothing he wants to tell her, except that he likes how she's prepared the fish, but even that he doesn't tell her. They only talk through a cooking show he knows Abbie likes to watch, it's the only subject he can talk freely to her about.

At nine, he climbs into bed alone and pulls out his phone to call Abbie.

'Okay seriously,' she says the second she's picked up, 'you need to stop calling all the time. Do you know how much I'm charged for phone calls?' They have an extended debate about fees about rights, on his part, it's only to keep hearing her talk. Their long debate, is cut short by Katrina's entrance in the room. A pasted smile on her face, she climbs in bed next to him, forcing him to say goodbye to Abbie, because he really doesn't feel free to talk to her in the presence of Katrina he realises.

'I'm afraid-' he starts, but she beats him to the rest of his sentence.

'You have to go, I know. Goodnight Crane.' She hangs up before he can reply, leaving him with an odd feeling he can't name.

'Is Miss Mills all right?' Katrina asks him.

'Yes,' he answers, 'she worries about Sleepy Hollow and our fight.' It's not a lie, but at this moment it's not the truth, they didn't once discuss the coming end of days. Some moments later, he lays his head on the pillow and pretends to fall asleep. He can literally feel Katrina watching him, but his thoughts are not with her. He's discovered a way to deal with the absence of Abbie, thank goodness for the invention of the cellular phone.


	4. Chapter 4

Day 3

**Abbie**

When her alarm goes off, she sits up in bed. Just as yesterday, and the day before, Debby has beaten her to the shower, something she doesn't mind anymore, it gives her enough time to catch up with Crane. But just as she thinks of calling him, she remembers that they spoke last night, that they'd have nothing to 'catch up' on, unless it's what dreams they had. Abbie decides against calling him, maybe he will call her instead. Again, she asks herself why he would call her when: 1) they spoke last night, and 2) he probably isn't awake yet. She chooses to believe that he won't call her, but hopes that he does. It's strange, but she has a weird want to speak to him before her day begins. In a way, he's always been the first person she speaks to at the beginning of the day. Jenny living in her house doesn't count, Ichabod has been the first person she talks to first for a long time now. Although she chooses to believe he won't call, she checks her phone for a message just before she goes in for her shower, and immediately after her shower. At roll call, she keeps her phone in her palm, half expecting it to light up and see his name displayed on the screen, which doesn't happen. Not at roll call, not after that on her way to the class for 'dealing with the supernatural'. In the class, she puts the phone away, she doesn't want disturbances; supernatural is her alley.

The agenda for the day is different from the first two days, very different. For one thing, they don't have practical training and for another, the only theory class they have is the supernatural one. She enjoys it, because most of what is said would've sounded ridiculous was she not a Witness. Hank, somehow manages to weasel himself next to her, earning him a scowl from Debby who'd only left to answer a call. He makes stupid remarks in a low tone as though he wants Abbie to laugh; the sad thing is, she would've entertained him in the past, now she just can't stand the stupid things coming from his mouth. At a particular time, the instructor talks about victims who genuinely believe they were possessed by demons to commit crimes such as rape and murder. It reminds her of Irving, thinking of Irving takes her thoughts to Sleepy Hollow Sherriff's Department, and that brings with it Crane. For the past hour she'd forgotten him. She pulls out her phone to see if he's left any message for her. He hasn't, and she swallows that deeply, ignoring that she feels betrayed or abandoned, or whatever it is she feels upon seeing no communication attempt from him. If he won't call her, she'll at least make contact with him.

Anything Moloch related come up?

It's a simple text, and while she is interested in knowing if the Apocalypse is happening or not, she really only sends the text so he can reply. He doesn't reply. Not through lunch or the four-hour screening of two ancient police movies that she's never heard of until today. Both are interesting, in the sense that they give her insight on the fundamentals of police work. She's reminded that the first and basic aim of a law officer is to protect. Not that she's ever forgotten it, but she needed the reminder. Time to time during the remainder of the programme, she checks her phone for his reply only to be disappointed. By the time they have to go for dinner, she has no appetite, instead she goes to her room and takes a very long shower, long enough to rival Debby's showers. It's not that she really wants to talk to Crane anyway, she tells herself, it's just, she's worried about him and how he's coping without her; her help that is. She thinks to ask Jenny about Crane, because she's not going to call him when she already sent him a text message; it will seem desperate, and besides, if he didn't reply to her message, it meant he either didn't want to, or he was busy with something else. Calling her sister is the best thing she can do.

Jenny barely gets out a 'Hallo' when Abbie speaks, 'Hey, Jenny. Have you seen Crane today?'

'Uh, wow, hi Abbie, how are you? Do you wanna know how I am?'

Abbie sighs, 'Sorry. How are you Jenny?'

'Same as always,' Jenny says, sounding like she's smiling, 'and no, I haven't seen him today.' Abbie takes a moment to digest her sister's answer, not precisely sure how she feels about it. If Jenny didn't see him, it means that he never left the cabin (or so Abbie thinks)...

'Why are you asking me anyway, don't you have his number?'

'I sent him a text and he didn't reply.'

'So call him,' Jenny suggests.

'I can't,' she says before she can stop herself.

'What do you mean can't?' Abbie doesn't want to tell her sister that she doesn't want to call Crane, because it would make her seem desperate or needy. The problem is, she feels that she needs to talk to him, it's no longer a want. It feels like she'll not be able to conclude the day properly if she doesn't talk to him.

'I just can't Jenny...I have to go...are you sure you're okay?'

'Yeah,' Jenny replies after some seconds, 'I'm okay. Listen, I'll call your Crane and tell him to call you.'

'Don't do that Jenny, it's not important.'

'I'll do it anyway. Goodnight Abbie and you're welcome by the way.'

It really isn't what she wants, her sister doesn't have to do that, but she won't pretend that she's not happy about it. She just hopes Jenny doesn't mention that she spoke to her.

When Debby returns from dinner, she starts with a long story about something that happened to someone at some place in another life. Abbie doesn't get what exactly her roommate is saying, only that it's keeping her awake long enough to wait up for Crane's call. An hour later, she receives a text from Jenny:

His phone's off. Can't get through. Try tomorrow.

It's as if the message sends her to the bottom of the pit, it's like the hope she had was just ripped from her heart. She falls asleep almost immediately after she reads the text. Disappointment's a good sleep promoter, plus, she doesn't want to think about why he's turned his phone off.

**What really happened...**

Katrina didn't sleep well, she was up the whole night thinking of the best way to communicate with Ichabod. She's come to realise that silence isn't only the absence of words or the unwillingness to speak. Silence is lack of trust, it's the way he behaves towards her when he wants nothing to do with her. It's the lack of communication.

Silence, from him, is a lot of things and she's on the receiving end of them. The most painful being that he would rather speak to a woman who isn't his wife. She's had it though, she can't stand around and watch her husband ignore her any longer. He treats her civilly enough, but there's silence between them. A stale silence that's the product of issues so deeply settled that digging them out would only cause further damage. It is the kind of silence that doesn't allow perfect peace to ever be present. They talk when he makes small talk; she tolerates it because without it, they would sit together in prickly uncomfortable silence.

For the past three nights, she hasn't been sleeping well, because even though her husband sleeps next to her, he is never there with her. She always knows that he would rather spend more time out of the home they're sharing than inside it. She doesn't let him see how much it affects her when he leaves in the morning and returns late in the evening, or the long conversations he has on the phone with Miss Mills. But she's had enough, today she will make a bigger attempt to talk to him, to get her husband back.

She waits for him to wake up (the sun has come out already), and immediately tries to distract him from reaching for his phone. He indulges her only for a small period, and then he's reaching for his phone, beginning to move his finger around on it. She wonders how he got accustomed to such a thing so easily; he's using it as though it had been a part of their time.

'I was thinking that you could show me around Sleepy Hollow today,' she suggests.

'Katrina...' he sighs, 'perhaps another day.'

'When? We have time today.' When he doesn't find what he's looking for on his phone (she observes this by the way his face falls), he looks at her, a sad look on his face, then nods to accept her suggestion. Even though she knows he doesn't want to, she pretends she doesn't notice. As she climbs out of bed, Ichabod starts with his phone again and something angry and possessive inside her surfaces. Back in their time, she was able to stop guns working with a simple incantation, from that time on she learned that the physical things had no power over the spiritual. Things have since evolved or developed into what they call technology, but still she's sure technology is no match for her powers. Concentrating deep inside her head, she stares directly at the phone in his hands and repeats a three-word incantation twice; once to perform what she means it to, and twice to lengthen the duration of the enchantment. It wasn't her intention to do something so drastic, but she isn't willing that an absent woman take away the attention of her husband even from a long distance away. Not entirely sure what will happen to the phone exactly, she stays to witness his reaction, that will tell her what she's done. At first he says nothing, he only presses continually on a single button until he lets out a small groan.

'What is it?' she asks innocently.

'My phone...' he says turning it over in his hand, 'it has suddenly stopped working. It must have a flat battery.'

'Can you do something to change it?'

'I'll have to charge it,' he says climbing out of bed. Katrina doesn't feel threatened, because she knows that as long as her incantation is not worn off, nothing he does to the phone will resurrect it.

'Then do that my love,' she says to him, as though she's supporting him on the matter.

After she's prepared herself, and he has too, they leave the cabin for the town. Ichabod lingers a little longer inside, mentioning something about the phone not charging, but she urges him to come on, that everything will be fine with his phone after they've gotten back. She links her arm through his as they walk around, asking him questions that he answers only because she's asking, not because he wants to tell her. When she makes jokes, he doesn't laugh and too soon after they've reached the town and explored around it, he says he wants to return home, that he doesn't feel right being out and enjoying himself when there was still much work to be done in the fight against evil.

They return home, and he rushes to see if his phone is working yet. The disappointment on his face says it all. It's not that she wants to make him suffer, it's that she wants her husband all to herself, if only for one day, without the interference of Miss Mills. But the problem is, he is affected by it, it's as though he's been deprived of something and he can't find reason enough to get through the day.

By the late afternoon, he's choosing to say nothing at all. His mood is different, he's more irritable and he doesn't want to eat. She's very tempted to revoke the incantation, maybe that way, after speaking to Miss Mills, his spirit will rise and he will behave normally, well the kind of normal that is small talk and niceties between them.

'Is there something the matter with you?' she asks him, once again pretending to be innocent.

'I'm worried that's all...how can it be that nothing unusual has happened in three days?' Apparently, he doesn't need an answer, for he gets up and leaves her at the table where she just joined him. He spends the rest of the afternoon and early evening outside, chopping wood.

He looks at his phone several times after he's come into the house. The difficult part for her is, that he's trying his hardest to mask his disappointment, he's been trying to since the morning. When he finally lays down for sleep, it's on a empty stomach and too early, and not surprisingly, on the couch, near his not-charging phone.


	5. Chapter 5

Day 4

**Ichabod**

He usually doesn't sleep in, there's a limit to how long he can sleep in the morning. But when he awakes and checks his phone and it still isn't working, he finds no reason to stay awake. It's not really that he doesn't find reason to stay awake, it just seems that sleep is the best alternative. Of course, he doesn't immediately fall asleep, he thinks and ponders for a little why he feels the way he does. He has no reason, at least not a valid one, to feel out of place and robbed, but he does. He feels as though he's been deprived of something he likes. Understanding that he feels that way isn't the problem, because that part he gets completely, it's the why he can't grasp into his mind. Wanting to give himself a valid reason for his feelings, he decides that it's because he and Abbie are very close, as though they've known each other all of their lives; it's the only explanation he can think of that's neither a lie, nor one that requires him to think deeper than that. It's the reason he goes back to sleep.

He wakes again only because Katrina pesters him for a good while to get up. His first thought is that she's had a premonition, or some sort of witchy intuition that something bad is about to happen.

'What is the matter?' he asks her, managing to keep panic from his voice. If something is indeed the matter, he doesn't know how they'll survive it; as much as he wants to believe that Katrina can be more than what she's demonstrated so far, experience has taught him that Abbie is always the one who saves the day.

She stares at him long and hard before she answers, she takes a seat beside him too when he's gathered himself up into a sitting position.

'Ichabod, you and I have to discuss what is happening,' she says finally. He doesn't know what she's referring to, but once again he jumps to the conclusion of the Apocalypse. He holds his breath as he asks, 'What is happening, Katrina?'

'The silence between us,' she says, 'I cannot ignore it any longer...I feel as though you would rather I weren't here with you.' The words sound accusatory, in fact, he knows she's charging him of something she is yet to reveal.

'There is no silence between us,' he denies. They speak when he makes small talk, but other than that, they don't. He knows, just as well as she that silence is not only the absence of words, it's a lot more than that. Denying that there is silence between them, is the easier thing to do than talk, for he fears that in talking and allowing her back into his life will do him more harm when he discovers more of the things she's kept from him their entire life together.

'Perhaps it wouldn't bother me so much if you didn't put Miss Mills as your priority before your wife.'

'Katrina,' he says evenly, trying to block out that he hasn't spoken to Abbie in a day, 'my relationship with her is not a subject I'm willing to discuss with you, because she has never, not once kept anything from me, she's never lied to me, or hid anything to protect me. So you'll have to forgive me for refusing any talk of her with you.'

'I understand that you are still uncertain of my previous decisions,' she starts desperately, 'and I imagine you are starting to doubt me, however Ichabod, I can explain it all. If you only allow me to.' Ichabod studies her for a moment only because he's making up his mind on what to do. Giving her a chance is the only thing he can do for now, if he had anything better to do, he wouldn't be willing to listen, because he finds that he's still not ready for her explanations.

'As you wish,' he inclines his head a little, 'I shall listen.' Katrina takes a breath and starts talking. She talks, and talks, telling him things he's never heard of before, and much less thought of her before. Through all her talking he remains quiet, his eyes fixed on her face as she talks. For the most part, her words sound like well constructed fibs, but he gives her the benefit of doubt. She tells him that she knew who he was from the day they met, that all of what she's done, she did only so that he could be in the here and now, in the current century. He's tempted to ask at this point if she also knew about Abbie, only, he doesn't, something stops him. At the end of her explanation, he doesn't feel any different from when she started, it's as though all that time, she'd opened her mouth, only to speak foolish things that had no meaning. Part of him wants to know why her reasons haven't stirred any sort of emotions in him, but the other part knows that he really wasn't ready to know just yet, and so his mind is refusing to accept her reasons until a time he's ready to digest what she's told him.

'Will you say something?' she asks, her hands twisting together in nervousness. Precisely in that moment (when he starts to feel sorry for her, and remembers that despite it all, Katrina truly loves him), the door to his home opens. For the tiniest moment, his heart leaps at the thought that it's Abbie, because she never knocks (except that day she left). He stands on impulse, only to have his heart fall at the sight of Jenny.

'Miss Jenny?' he walks around the sofa to her at the door. His previous conversation with Katrina wiped clean from his mind, he can only see Jenny.

'Hey,' she waves her hand in tiny salute, then looks over him to Katrina, 'Hey, Katrina.'

'Miss Mills,' Katrina acknowledges back.

'Sorry if I'm interrupting or whatever, but I just came to check on you guys, see if you're okay, if you need anything,' Jenny says. Ichabod gets the feeling she's only here for him, but with Katrina present, she cannot exclude her.

'We're fine Miss Mills,' Katrina says quickly.

'You're sure?' she looks directly at Ichabod.

'Nothing is the out of place Miss Jenny,' he offers her a small smile out of politeness.

'Okay, then you need to call my sister, and tell her that. She's worried about you guys. I mean I could tell her that you're fine and all, but I think she'll believe it more when it comes from you.'

Now, Ichabod knows Jenny is here for him alone. Even though they have never talked about it (because Abbie doesn't ever bring it up, even in the times that she should), he knows that Abbie doesn't trust his wife. It's not a matter of hate or dislike, it's that (again, Abbie hasn't said the exact words, but he knows) Katrina has to give her reason to be trusted, otherwise, she has no concern for his wife. 'We all make our own choices,' she once said to him about Katrina, 'I can't be worried about someone who chooses to make the decisions she does all the time.' It was the only time Abbie had spoken that bluntly about Katrina. That's how he knows now, that Jenny is here because Abbie asked her to check up on him, and with good reason, not him and Katrina as Jenny said.

'My phone has died it seems,' he recalls how crestfallen he'd been the whole of yesterday, 'It will neither charge, nor switch on.'

'And you didn't tell me because?' Jenny folds her arms.

'I thought it was temporary.'

Her face every kind of serious, Jenny says, 'You had her worried Crane. She even called me to ask about you.' The information coming from Abbie's sister is as the sound of Cinematic Orchestra is to his ears; wonderful. He's never appreciated hearing something seemingly so trivial before. He likes to know that she thought of him. An idea springs to him, 'Miss Jenny, may I borrow your phone?'

'At this time? I'm sure Abbie's out in the forest doing practise shooting or something for like the next two hours. Plus, I called before I got here, and I got her voicemail, I'm pretty sure she left her phone behind.'

His raised spirit fall along with his face, which apparently Jenny notices, 'There is something you can do though, you guys were very big on writing letters right?'

'I'm to write her a letter?' Technology has advanced, and made life easier, and as much as he knows letter delivery has come a long way, he doubts Abbie will get his letter in less than a day. Someone forgive him, but he doesn't want his words of today to only reach her tomorrow; tomorrow will have words of its own.

'Email. She'll get it two seconds after you send it.' He's vaguely heard Abbie mention the word a few times, but they never got in the specifics. In any case, he agrees to try what Jenny suggested, any communication with Abbie is better than none. Jenny tells him that he has to come with her to Abbie's, because Abbie has got wireless and a computer over there (didn't she leave with her computer? Jenny laughs at his question, saying something about poor Abbie). After seeing the bag of chocolate glazed doughnuts on the table, he takes them and follows Jenny out, stopping at the door only to tell Katrina that he would be back later.

Later is extremely late, well for his standards anyway. It's dark outside, and well past dinner hour. Dinner tonight for him was cold Spanish soup that Jenny likes and hotdogs. It's not deliberate that he's coming home so late, in fact he lost track of time when he started typing the email. Using only his two index fingers and looking up at the screen to see if he was typing the correct words, took up more time than he thought it would. And him having to explain the sudden death of his phone, as well as telling her useless things, and apology after apology for making her worry, didn't make the process easier. The best thing that came from setting up an email account, typing the email and sending it, is the feeling of elation he still carries with him into his home for knowing Abbie will read his words, instead of hearing them, the effect will no doubt be different. He doesn't even check to see if his phone has come to life yet. Instead, he goes to take a shower and join a sleeping Katrina in bed. He can't place his finger on it exactly, but something sparked in him once he hit the 'send' button. All he knows is that if he can send Abbie emails everyday, he will be satisfied. As he drifts off to sleep, he notices that he doesn't at all feel like he felt in the morning when he hadn't spoken to Abbie. Perhaps, I do need to talk to her every day or share a part of my day with her, he thinks sleepily, not doing so doesn't do me any good.


	6. Chapter 6

Day 5 (Part 1)

**Abbie**

Her throat is itchy and sore, her nose blocked and her head hurts. She's sick. All of a sudden, out of the blue, she's sick. Maybe not out of the blue, considering that she was around too much dust the previous day. She hates being sick, especially with something as small and not fatal like the common flu. The shower she takes soothes a bit of her sickness, relieving her head of the pain it's feeling temporarily, but by the time she's dressed and ready to go down for the beginning of the day, her brain pounds terribly against her skull.

'Maybe you should stay behind,' her roommate suggests in concern. Abbie has considered it, the problem is, she doesn't want to stay behind and do nothing, it'll only get her thinking about things she doesn't want to think about. She doesn't want to be alone with her thoughts; being part of the course keeps her away from her thoughts.

'I wish,' Abbie replies, it hurts even to speak.

'Look,' Debbie tells her, 'I'll talk to the training officer, and he'll understand, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Besides, you don't look good.'

'I don't feel good,' she confesses. Strangely, all she wants to do, is be back in the Archives with Crane, discussing whatever creature of the day is roaming the streets of Sleepy Hollow. On a normal day (a normal day before Crane), she would want to sit in front of the TV medicating her throbbing head with a giant tub of blueberry ice-cream; it's funny that's not what she wants now.

'So just stay. I'll call you later to check on you, so keep your phone on...and I'll come around lunch. Let me know if you need anything okay?'

Debbie leaves her with the promise of coming back, and Abbie reluctantly goes to look for her phone in the laundry basket. She threw it in there two nights ago when she received the text from Jenny that Crane's phone was off. She didn't bother getting it out the next day either, because she wasn't over her disappointment yet. At the time, it just felt like he was deliberately pushing her aside now that Katrina was back in his life; she understood it as his way of saying that he didn't need her in his life anymore; if there wasn't evil involved, he didn't want anything to do with her. And as much as she didn't want to admit that it hurt, it did hurt her, because they'd grown so close, to the point of him not needing to say anything for her to understand what he wasn't saying, and he didn't need words from him her either. All through that day, her mind, without her consent, had strayed to thoughts of Crane. Mostly, she wondered why he was doing that to her, if it was really that hard to pick up the phone and send her a tiny text message that said anything, hell even about Katrina.

'Get over it Mills,' she says out loud to herself (as loud as she can on a sore throat) as she circles her fingers around her phone in the basket. She finds that it's off, which doesn't surprise her at all, the last time she charged it was the day she arrived. After placing the clothes she discarded onto the floor back into the basket, Abbie gets her charger, takes off her shoes and climbs under her covers. If she's going to stay in their room because of her flu, she might as well get comfortable.

Against her better reasoning, her heart starts off excitedly in the hope that when she turns her phone on (and she immediately does as soon as she's plugged the charger into the socket), a few notifications will pop up on the screen, letting her know that a one Ichabod Crane had left her several voice messages and text messages.

Three notifications do appear, only, they're from her sister. Two text messages and a voice mail. The last notification is an email alert that she doesn't care for, because it doesn't say who it's from. She listens to the voicemail.

Abbie, hi. I know it's late, and you're probably asleep, but it's cause I'm just leaving the cabin...I took Crane home. He was sending you an email actually-

She doesn't listen to rest of the voicemail, instead, she abruptly cuts it off and quickly connects to her private email account. In less than five seconds, she's reading the latest email in her inbox.

Dear Miss Mills,

Your sister has kindly shown me how to open an email account, and that is how I'm able to be writing you this.

Firstly, I would like to know that you are well, and nothing is ailing you or keeping you unwell. I am worried about you and your wellbeing, and also, if it is not too inappropriate, I find that I, well the best way to say this is simply that I miss your constant presence, I'd grown-

Abbie stops reading to digest the words she just read; he's worried about her, that's feels good to know, very good. More than it usually does. She chuckles at the way he writes, exactly the same as how he talks. After reading that, she can't stay upset, especially when he's confessed that he misses her. Reading his words makes her think about her own feelings on the matter of her being in New York, away from him. She misses him, she realises with a start. It never occurred to her that she might be missing him, and that was why she found it disappointing that he didn't contact her on her third day away. When she briefly thought about it then (as she drifted off to sleep), she thought it was about being cast aside, as if she didn't matter. Now she knows better, it's more that she misses him, and less that she feels pushed aside. She actually misses him, she acknowledges when she continues to read his email.

accustomed to your presence at all times of the day. Even worse, without the battle that we usually fight, I have no idea what to do with myself. I have far too much free time, with which I find no use of when I have nothing to fill it with. Had you been here, I'm sure spare time would've been a most welcome thing for the both of us to engage in a wide variety of activities. I particularly find that I miss our evenings at the tavern...

Abbie snuggles deeper into the covers, a nostalgic smile spreading on her face as she continues to read. Crane has written about a lot of things. In fact, the first three paragraphs (paragraph is an ungenerous description), are all about how he misses the things they usually did, how he doesn't have the desire to do them without her. His second point is a full out explanation of why he didn't get in contact with her, to which Abbie feels the heel for jumping to conclusions. He has so thoroughly explained everything that she has no reason to doubt any single word he's written. The part that brings him closer to her, is the last section, where he's written about the day he had the previous day and the following; his conversation with Katrina and his feelings about her at the moment. That bit surprises her a little; she knew it wouldn't automatically go away that he didn't trust his wife, but she thought at least that at present they would be going through the ignorant honeymoon phase, where everything was just well, sex and more sex, until it was over. Apparently, that's not the case.

She cracks up when she reads his complain about typing, and Jenny comparing him to a snail and offering her services for typing classes. Jenny has fed him a cold Spanish soup, he's written, and he never wants to have it again.

All too soon, she's reading his goodbye. It's short and to the point, only stressing that she should look after herself.

If she felt anything reading the long email, it's nothing compared to the newly surging energy that has suddenly come to life in her, making her forget that she's sick. To be honest, while reading the email, she didn't feel the throbbing of her head, or the scratchiness of her throat at every laugh, she felt none of that. More than ever, she wishes she were back in Sleepy Hollow, having a beer at the tavern with Crane, or just hanging out in the Archives, whatever it was they would be doing.

Not even thinking about it, she closes her email page for the dial pad. She enters his number, hoping with all her heart that his phone is working again. A giant sigh of relief escapes her when the phone starts ringing. It rings a while before it's answered. Abbie doesn't wait for a 'hallo' from the other end.

'Emails aren't meant to be that long,' she croaks, her sore throat acting up, 'but for the record, I liked that it was long...'

No word comes from the other end, but Abbie doesn't consider it, she continues talking, 'And um...I miss you too I guess...especially when I didn't talk to you for two days.'

'Miss Mills?'

Abbie freezes, literally everything that she is stops moving. It's Katrina who's answered the phone.


	7. Chapter 7

Day 5 (Part 2)

**Abbie**

The only reason she's frozen is that she expected the least of all people, Katrina to be answering Crane's phone. It doesn't take longer than a minute for Abbie to recover from the –for lack of a better word- shock.

'Where's Crane?' Abbie wants to know. She doesn't have the time, or the patience to entertain Katrina. The thing is, if there was even a tiny thing about Katrina that she could feel was trustworthy and dependable, she would give her the chance, but the truth is, nothing about Katrina calls her attention in a good way.

'Miss Mills,' Katrina's soft voice says, 'it's still early in the morning...my husband is asleep.'

'Right,' Abbie replies dryly, unable to keep from rolling her eyes. She detected a hint of possessiveness in Katrina's tone. Abbie doesn't care for it, nor is she bothered by it, she's never needed reminding of his marital status. Besides, her relationship with Crane isn't just any relationship; Katrina probably doesn't understand that.

Very sweetly, Katrina asks, 'Is there anything you'd like me to tell him Miss Mills?'

'No,' Abbie replies without thinking to answer that way. She's more concerned with the fact that Katrina, who answered a phone that isn't hers, has no shame at all to ask her if she'd like to leave a message; as if Abbie called their landline and not Crane's private number.

'Are you certain? I know-'

'Katrina,' she cuts her off quickly, simultaneously rubbing the front of her neck to ease the discomfort all the talking is causing to her dry throat, 'do me a favour...the next time you answer Crane's phone, make sure it's not me calling.'

She could've been pleasantly nice and said goodbye to Katrina, but something about Katrina implying that she knew about her and Crane's relationship, pissed her off in all kinds of ways. She hangs up before Katrina has the chance to answer. Katrina has no idea about anything. That's what upsets Abbie about Katrina the most. She came out of nowhere, knowing nothing, and wanting to change everything, thinking she's got the best solution. Whatever else she has to put up with, she won't, under any circumstances, pretend to be okay with Katrina, not even for Crane. The best she can manage, is being civil with the woman, more than that, no.

The brief conversation with Katrina has caused her head to hurt even more; worse, she didn't speak to Crane. Abbie has no doubt that Katrina will tell him that she called, it's just now that she's spoken to the wrong Crane, the thought of speaking to the Crane she actually wanted to, leaves a bad taste in her mouth. Is this how it's going to be from now on, she asks herself as she goes through her text messages again. Not finding what she's looking for, she throws her phone on the opposite end of her bed with more aggression than she's supposed to have. She can't help being irritated though; she can't train with everyone else, she didn't speak to Crane (and she misses him), her stupid sickness doesn't look like it's going anywhere soon...she has every right to be irritated. And all she can do is sleep.

Sometime later, someone is pushing her, and she wants to know why.

'Hmmm!' she complains, turning to her other side and pulling the covers to cover her head, 'What?'

'Oh thank God,' Abbie hears Debbie's voice saying, 'I thought you'd passed out.'

'Really?' Couldn't a person, a sick person for that matter just take a nap without anyone thinking they're dead?

'You weren't answering my texts, or my calls...I got worried. I told the...' as Debbie continued to tell Abbie about the different people she complained to about Abbie not replying to her, Abbie hears her phone buzzing. Only wanting to shut it off so she can sleep again, one of her hands sneaks out of the covers to blindly feel for it.

'...so Hank overheard, and he asked about you...' Debbie continues to say, meanwhile Abbie pulls the phone under the covers to her face. Her barely open eyes make out that Crane is calling. Lightning-fast, her eyes are shot open, she's flung the covers back, and is pressing the phone to her ear only to realise the she hasn't hit the answer button. Laughing at her own silliness, she lowers it again, presses the answer button and places it back on her ear.

'Crane?' her voice is much worse than it was before, hoarser, sleep-heavy and scratchy. She wouldn't like to be the person on the other end.

'It is I,' comes from the other end.

Abbie looks up and sees the way Debbie is looking at her with her arms crossed, 'What?'

'Uh,' Crane starts, 'well, I-'

'Not you,' Abbie says to him, pulling the phone down. 'What?' she asks Debbie again.

Her roommate shakes her head, 'You weren't listening to me, and suddenly someone calls and you're up in a second.'

'Are you jealous Debbie?' she teases.

'No,' Debbie can't suppress a grin, 'I'm curious. Who is he?' She understands why her roommate is asking, Debbie has told her all about her love life, Abbie never mentioned anything. For an answer, Abbie shakes her head smiling, with the intention of making Debbie believing exactly what she wants to believe. 'Go away Debbie, I'm fine.' Immediately, she gets back on the phone with Crane.

'So she told you I called.'

'She did,' he answers and Abbie can hear the nod in his answer, 'Are you all right, your voice sounds very different.'

'I'm fine. Plus a developing flu.' Only because Debby is still standing at the edge of the bed watching Abbie closely, she doesn't lean back into the pillows and enjoy the blissful relief of hearing his voice in her ears. She can't remember the last time she heard it, and how it sounded; she just knows it's wonderful to hear it now.

'Go,' she mouths to Debbie.

'Ah, how unfortunate. Is there anything I can do to help?'

Finally, Debbie shakes her head as though she's been betrayed, leaving Abbie to have her conversation in private. Exhaling first (after the door has closed), Abbie leans back into the pillows, getting comfortable.

'From over there? I don't think so,' she laughs lightly, then adds, 'I'm sorry about my voice.'

Quite sincerely, Crane says, 'I'll take what I can get after so much time.'

The way he says it, makes it sound as though they haven't spoken in weeks. Suddenly, she feels guilty for how she felt earlier, before she read the email, her earlier confession comes out on its own, 'I miss you.'

'As do I,' he sighs, 'I'm afraid I seek escape more these days, and I can't find any. I'm caught between places I wish not to be.' She knows he's talking about the Katrina situation (and her absence); she doesn't know much of what's going on with them, but she knows however else he may feel about Katrina, he must be uncomfortable and not at ease with the new arrangement of having her back in his life.

'No offense Crane,' she says to him, 'but, I'm not talking about your wife right now, I'm a little sick for that.' He should understand that she isn't dismissing talking about his bothers, only that she's unwilling to talk about Katrina. Full stop.' Another time, when she's back in Sleepy Hollow, they can talk about Katrina.

'I understand...when do you return?'

'Tomorrow,' the mere thought makes her insides squirm in happiness; she's going home tomorrow, 'I can't wait...I mean it's only late in the evening, because we have this graduation thing for like literally the whole day, and some party, but I definitely get back tomorrow.'

'What time in the evening?'

'I don't know. Hey, you wanna come to my graduation? We could tour the city afterwards, maybe go to a baseball game...' the thought is so very tempting that she nearly forgets that she's joking.

Apparently, he believes her, 'Could I? I would love that most certainly.' The entertaining sound in his voice gives him away, Abbie can't help giggling at his eagerness, also very warmed at the idea of him not hesitating to travel a long distance to spend time with her. Abbie holds her breath at the sharp realisation.

'You're not coming here Crane,' she tells him sadly, 'it doesn't make sense for you to. Not when I'm returning.' Actually, she thinks, it does make sense for him to come, it just isn't practical, but she won't tell him that. What she does tell him is that he can pick her up from the airport when she hears the faint groan he makes. He can use her car if Jenny is with him, otherwise he'll be arrested for sure, she warns, and he laughs, telling her that he will be careful not to get caught. It's amazing, she thinks, how they talk about simple things as though they are in the Archives, not miles apart, without Abbie thinking of call charges for long conversations. Every so often, he says something typical of him, and she's stabbed by how much she misses him. It's not just the things he does, she misses him as a person, a person in her life.

When she can't take more talking, she says goodbye to him, secretly hoping he would protest and suggest that they text each other instead. He doesn't do that. What he does do, is send her a text message a little after she's hung up.

I hope you never have to leave Sleepy Hollow again after this. I wouldn't like it.

Her reply is instant.

I hope so too , I wouldn't like it either. Call you tomorrow.

Abbie doesn't know what to do with herself the rest of the day, just that she has to keep her thoughts away from Crane, or she will call him again. She takes a bath to open her skin pores, watches a silly teen romantic movie, then leaves the room for the next building where she knows her team and the rest of the officers are. Even though she won't be participating in their activities, it beats being alone with her thoughts in her room.


	8. Chapter 8

Day 6

**Ichabod **

They're both exhausted. The amount of things they've been through in the span of six hours...

He doesn't want to keep thinking about it, because it's over, this day is over, and tomorrow will bring new battles around. It's just, he cannot stop thinking that he could've died in that coffin, and he would've never gotten through to Abbie...

'So Jenny tells me you drove,' she sets her car keys on the small table. Her voice is trying to be light, but he can only hear tiredness. He has only half a mind to give her a reply, and not a sassy one at that. He doesn't say anything. Abbie waits for a reply until she stops waiting, and takes a seat in the armchair. He can't keep his eyes off her, he wants to look away, to think of something pleasant to lighten the heaviness of the day, but he can't. His eyes remain solely on her, as though drawing strength from her, which makes no sense seeing as she's as tired as he is.

'Ah,' she sighs, 'I can't believe we got through this day, I didn't think we would.' She has her face buried deep inside her hands.

Again, he wants to answer, but he can't form words in his head, not a single word. He continues to look at her, thinking of how close he came to losing her presence in his life. Of course, he very well could've died too, leaving her to be the only Witness, stuck in Purgatory. He's not quite ready to let it go that she wanted to remain in Purgatory, thinking it would be according to Moloch's plan if she left with him.

'I mean, there's still Katrina, and we have to find her, but at least we're together now. It's much easier when it's the two of us.'

Katrina. He remembers Katrina. He truly does, it's just...well...it wasn't Katrina he thought of first, which should be a problem for him, but it's not. He's not even certain he particularly cares at this moment that his wife wasn't the first to come to his mind. When he thought he was dying, the moments that flashed before him were the precious last seconds in Purgatory when he said goodbye to Abbie, vowing to return for her.

He sinks (quite involuntarily) to his knees in front of the armchair, his hands gripping on either armrest. Abbie brings up her face from her hands. At first her face is all surprise, not understanding what's happening or why.

'Are you okay?' she asks in concern, leaning her body forward just enough to be close, but not too close that they make contact. Ichabod shakes his head.

'No,' he continues to shake his head, 'I believed that I would never again lay eyes upon you.' Just now that he has said it, does he realise the magnitude of his statement. It's no longer as it was in his head, a simple declaration of truth that haunted him. Now that he's spoken the words aloud, the true meaning surfaces. He thought he'd lost her for all eternity; the feelings that thought arouses him are distressing.

'I didn't think I'd see you again either,' she says, whether to make herself equal to him or not, he doesn't know, all he knows is that he could've lost her.

'Does that frighten you still?' he wants to know, because the thought does more than frighten him, extremely more.

'There are a lot of things that scare me Crane. A lot, not just one in particular.'

'Would you like to talk about them?'

'Not now,' she shakes her head, 'I'm too tired to relive that. I'm sorry about the coffin, I had no idea...the whole time I thought you were making progress with Katrina...and I'm sorry about Katrina too.'

'It's not your fault,' he tells her.

She sighs, 'No, but we're in such a mess...' she shakes her head as though to clear it, 'We both need sleep.'

Sleep? He didn't think of that, 'Do you have to go back now?' he doesn't her to go, not now, or ever.

'Ag, no, I don't have the energy to drive,' she laughs a little, 'I might fall asleep behind the wheel...I'll just stay here.'

'Very well,' he said, managing to keep relief from his voice. At this point, having her close is the only confirmation that she's not in Purgatory. He let's go of the armrest and gets on his feet.

'I will prepare the bed for you.'

'Seriously Crane,' she stands, 'I couldn't care less if there were breadcrumbs on your bed, I just want to sleep.'

'I still feel-'

'Come on, let's just get some sleep.'

He stops moving, every part of him stills. It sounded like she said they should sleep in the same bed. He wants clarity.

'Surely you don't mean we both sleep in the bed?'

'Yeah I do...you're not sleeping on the couch, and I'm not sleeping on it either. So come on.'

'Miss Mills...'

'Suit yourself, sleep here,' she shrugs, too wearied to argue about who sleeps where. He thinks about it, and then goes against the idea of sleeping on the couch. After the coffin, he needs all the room he can get. At least that's what he allows himself to believe.

'No, no,' he follows her, 'I think the bed can house the both of us.'

He opens his eyes, then closes them again. He feels anxious somehow, he knows there's something he should be remembering, so he tries to remember it. The last thing he remembers is going to bed with Abbie. Carefully, so as not to wake her, he feels on the other side to find out if she's still in bed. She is indeed still in bed with him. He relaxes, leaving his hand atop her, yet the anxiety doesn't leave him, neither does the feeling that he's supposed to be remembering something. As hard as he can, he tries to think of why he's anxious, what is he anxious for? It must be barely three in the morning; he reaches for his phone on the side of the bed to confirm the time. Something has obviously gotten him up at such an hour and he intends to find out what.

The date on the phone catches his attention. It's one he's had engraved in his mind since yesterday, because...

Reality hits him!

Just to make absolutely sure that he's not deluding himself, he holds the phone out to the person on the bed. Just as he thought...

Somewhat disappointed, he drops his hand with the phone, taking the little illumination away from the sleeping face of Katrina. Even with reality smacking him in the face, he still hoped that it would be Abbie sleeping in that bed.

It was just a dream, he accepts. He had a vivid dream that was a communication from his subconscious and conscious. Purgatory to him, represents eternal separation, and Abbie has been away so long...it's why he had a dream of when that horrible day was over. He'd been so worried with losing her that day, not ever being able to see her again.

Seconds later, he's standing at the kitchen window dressed only in his sleeping trousers, trying to analyse his dream. There had been different elements in the dream; the part where he was afraid he would never see her again (which, shamefully, is one thought that has lightly plagued him in Abbie's absence), another part where he couldn't understand his feelings (and disregard for Katrina) for Abbie and the last part, the part he liked most, where Abbie unconsciously assured him that she was there with him and not in Purgatory, by staying the night. He likes to think about that part.

He goes over the dream countless times in the hours that follow, taking each little thing into his memory, to better understand what it really means. The meaning of the dream and the anxiety he feels will provide him with actual answers.

Before the sun is risen to a decent position in the sky, he's out of the cabin (leaving Katrina still very asleep). After the previous time, he makes sure his phone is safely in his pocket, not caring that they would be delivering his morning bag of goodies in some hours. He doesn't care for delicacies when Abbie is returning. Besides, something in him simply won't let him remain in the cabin, not since he worked out his feelings of the past days, aided by the dream of course.


	9. Chapter 9

Because yesterday didn't go as planned, he's literally going around every corridor and corner in the precinct looking for her. She didn't come as she'd promised, and he returned home to a note from Katrina telling him that she left. He cared, just not enough to mull it over in his head.

For more than five hours, he waited fruitlessly at her home for her to return. She was due yesterday; she never called to say anything, all he'd gotten was a small thing that he could barely call a text message, telling him that he shouldn't expect her. She didn't explain anything, not why, not how; it hurt him deeply. He'd never felt his life crushed more than after reading that text and knowing that she wouldn't be returning. And so, in the hope of catching her in the early morning as she arrived, he went to her home. She wasn't there when he got there. Miss Jenny told him that she wasn't back yet, but he stubbornly insisted that he would wait for her. After three hours, he had another idea; it could be that she was at the police station.

She's only come to report herself back from her trip. Protocol dictates that she does that before she does anything else. One detective stops her in one corridor to talk about nothing important. How was it, he wants to know. Did you really train under Rico Gonzales, he's a legend. All she hears is blah, bleh, blih. She's really not in the mood, because she's still suffering the effects of the graduation party (added on to the fact that she had to drive all the way from there-driving isn't a joke, much less when the driver is Hank), and all she wants is to sleep. Really sleep, the kind of sleep where she only wakes up from when she feels better. Out of politeness, she smiles quietly as the detective talks to her, only able to sigh in relief when Hank comes from somewhere bearing a cup of coffee. Her escape has presented itself.

'Ling,' she places a gentle hand on the detectives' forearm (her voice is much worse than the previous day, but she tries her best to be heard), 'can we catch up another time, I have to go.' She starts walking away to meet Hank before her colleague has the chance to respond.

'Brought you coffee,' Hank offers the cup to her as they meet. Abbie shakes her head, she doesn't want coffee. He'd offered to drive her back to Sleepy Hollow, and she accepted, because she saw no other way, but that didn't mean that she was ready to start entertaining the thoughts she knows he has about her. She doesn't have time for relationships at the moment, and besides, long distance has never been something she did. She walks with him in silence, praying desperately that Reyes will be in her office so she can leave as soon as possible.

Ichabod goes around frantically as though he's lost a puppy. No one pays him any mind, he's always around the precinct anyway. He's more desperate than he knows, going around in huge strides, not noticing that he's nearly bumping into people in his wake. He tells himself that he should've started in the Archives first, but he gets rid of the thought immediately. First, he'll look all through the precinct, then he'll go into the Archives. He doesn't find her anywhere, and he's growing defeated by the minute. Perhaps, he should go speak to Sherriff Reyes, she could know of the whereabouts of Abbie, if no one else does.

Hank and his coffee follow too closely next to her, as though (Abbie thinks), he's trying to tell everyone that he's got dibs on her, which is obviously ridiculous, because there's not a person who doesn't know the kind of person that she is. She wouldn't just leave Sleepy Hollow for two minutes to return with random strange guy. She wonders why he's still hanging around when she remembers that he's waiting to drive her home. She didn't have the heart to say no, she'll call a taxi, so she's stuck with him following her around the precinct, talking endlessly and comparing SHSD to NYPD. She just wishes he would shut up already. Her wish is granted when they reach Reyes' office, it's wide open for her to enter,

'Stay here,' she tells Hank. Reyes has a smile of welcome ready for her, which she returns only because courtesy is stupid courtesy, she has absolutely nothing to smile about. She just hopes Reyes doesn't make small talk.

'I understand you missed your flight?' the Sherriff isn't really asking, but continues to tell Abbie that it hasn't affected her working days. Again, all Abbie hears is blah, bleh, blih, nothing is getting through to her, not a single thing. She just wants to sleep.

'Just fill this in, and you're set to go,' Reyes says to her, holding out a form. Abbie knows those kinds of forms, she's filled them in before, they're quite brief and to the point. Without asking to, she borrows one of Reyes pen and fills the form in bent over the table, she doesn't have time to sit.

'Is that all Sherriff?' she hands the form back to her.

Reyes nods, 'What happened to your voice over there?'

'Long story,' she says. It's not a long story. She got a flu, made it worse by taking in excessive amounts of champagne and doing karaoke at the graduation.

'All right Mills, I expect you here for your shift tomorrow,' the Sherriff dismisses her. Finally, Abbie thinks as she leaves, finally she can go home and just rest. She and Hank take off for the corridor that leads out of the precinct.

To calm his nerves, he helps himself to a cup of coffee that he doesn't drink, he only holds in his hands. It's not that he's worried that she's in danger, it's that he misses her wholly and shamelessly. When he thinks about it, it hasn't been that long of a difference, because had she arrived the previous night, he would've gone to the cabin and only seen her later today. But the fact remains that he'd prepared himself to welcome her last night, and he'd been sorely disappointed. That's the difference. He continues in the direction of the Sheriff's office.

They meet somewhere in between. Neither halfway to where they want to be.

He sees her first, because after six days without her, he's etched her figure into his mind. Even in the dark, with his eyes closed, he would know her from a group of people. He knows exactly how she's like, her height, the way she would style her hair, the way she walks and how she would stand if she was standing.

A smile he doesn't register sneaks on his face, when he realises that the man she's walking with is doing nothing but annoying her. He knows from the way she's not looking at him as he speaks that she's not interested in what he has to say. Also, her stubborn refusal to look up from the floor as they walk side by side gives her away the most. He's really missed her. Ichabod stands still where he is, willing her telepathically to look up and see him.

A little something pulls her to look up, and she does look up. She stands absolutely still, causing Hank to abruptly halt as well. What's going on? Why did you just suddenly stop? She vaguely hears him ask her, but she can't answer. She sees him standing not far from where she is. Something registers inside; she didn't know she was missing something until she saw him. His face, his everything opens her heart to fact that he is that something that she is missing. Seeing him, makes everything fall into place. She knew she missed him, but she didn't know she felt like this. One concentrated look at him and she knows he feels exactly the same. She also knows that whatever happens next between them, it cannot be in public, in the common space where nosy eyes can intrude on moment that's meant to be only enjoyed by them. Forgetting all about Hank (who is staring after her as if she's speaking a different language to him), she begins walking to Ichabod.

He walks to her at the same time she starts walking to him. A feeling he's unfamiliar with is dancing around inside him, pushing him to take bigger steps. He can't wait to throw his arms around her.

They meet and she pulls him by the arm quite suddenly, halting any plan he had of embracing her. She's spied an open door behind him, so she pulls him with her into it. To anyone looking at them, they would think that the two have an urgently private matter they had to discuss, for the way Abbie is pulling Ichabod with her in a hurry.

A second inside the open room or office (Abbie doesn't care to notice what it is, or what's in it), she pulls him directly in front of her as she leans against the wall next to the door. She vaguely notices him place the coffee cup beside her.

'Hey,' she says, but hears no sound coming from her mouth. His response is physical, he pulls her off her feet, crushing her into the tightest embrace she's ever been in, in her life. It's strong and heartfelt, she can feel the way his heart hammers against her and she can hear the content sighs he's making over and over as he holds her. Her arms wrap around his neck just as tightly, if not more. She holds on with a severe ferocity that she can't yet understand. She's missed him, honestly, on her mother's grave, she's missed him and she doesn't want this moment to end.

This is what it feels like, Ichabod suddenly understands. To have one's life fall into place feels like this. Having the pieces return to their original places and form a complete thing, is what this embrace makes him aware of. She's clinging to him fiercely, unwilling to loosen her hold around his neck. He fears that if he draws back from the embrace, she will die. And he will die too if he doesn't bring them closer than they are. He has to inhale her until his mind is only her and nothing else. With urgency, his hands cup under her buttocks to urge her to draw further into him.

Abbie, compliantly lifts her legs to circle around him. It feels like a warm bath after a long day; welcome and pleasing to the soul. Much more tightly than her arms around his neck, her legs refuse to loosen. And she's afraid that if she lets go, she will be back in New York again, missing him.

'I missed you, I missed you so much.' She knows she's saying the words, but she can't hear any of them. Her stupid voice is keeping her words away from him.

He's happy, swelling inside himself, but he has to end their embrace, it's important that he does.

'I'm going to set you down now,' he whispers close to her ear. At least he needs to give her a fair warning before he does something as cruel as releasing her from their perfect needy moment. Even without a reply, he eases her off from him, it's not what he really wants, but it has to be done.

'I didn't know I missed you so much until I saw you,' he confesses. The hands he'd used to pick her up, come to rest on her face. Watery eyes stare back into his, large and breathtaking.

I missed you, he thinks, unable to speak the words aloud a second time. And it's that thought, that leads him to his next move. His head bows down, careful to communicate with her that he has every intention of placing a kiss in welcome to her lips. A simple welcoming kiss, he thinks, they are friends after all, it wouldn't be improper. He stops short close to her face, waiting for her to reject or accept him. Her unbreaking stare gives him her answer. She's okay with a kiss, it's no problem.

She thinks it will be chaste and quick. It's not. Somehow, sometime between her approval and their lips lightly touching, communication changed, or their minds changed synchronically, because they're kissing, really kissing, and she doesn't know who started it or if they acted together at once. It doesn't matter, because wow, they're kissing and she can't remember why they're doing it, just that they are, and she loves it.

If he had at some point in his life imagined what it would be like to kiss her, it wouldn't have been like this. He's ashamed to think of it now, but he knows he wouldn't have done their imaginary kiss justice. His hands keep her face securely as he angles his head better to deepen their kiss. All that he knows fall away, all he was thinking before this moment vanishes into the sensory overload that the kiss has produced. He has to pull away to gather himself, his thoughts at least.

'Wow,' she says, and for the first time since she saw Crane, she hears the word coming from her mouth. He smiles, shrugging a little, 'That just happened.'

It's no lie, she can see that in his eyes. She has no explanation from her side either. Her left hand pulls his right hand off her face.

'Let's go home,' she suggests. It isn't the time to talk about what just happened. New though it might be, they did it willingly; they could discuss it later. She wants to sleep right now.

They stare long and hard at each other, secret smiles on their faces, having discovered secrets that had been unknown even to themselves. At last, he nods, and steps back from her, holding out his arm to show her out first, keeping her small hand clasped into his.

'Let's go home,' he repeats.

She doesn't know where exactly home is, but she's back in Sleepy Hollow, and Crane's with her, the rest will work itself out.

Steps out of the room, they bump into Hank, looking as if he saw something unbelievable.

'I'm going home now Hank, thanks for the ride, but I'll manage from here.' Her voice is barely audible, but she's sure he gets it. They leave him standing around like an idiot.


	10. Chapter 10

**Last chapters are tricky things to get right, there's always so much to be covered, but never enough basis to cover those things. This chapter wasn't meant to be the last, but I wanted for once to do something different. I absolutely did not plan on adding angst, that just happened. Anyway, prepare for a different ending.**

When she said they should go home, she had neither the cabin, nor her house in mind, she only wanted to get out of the precinct. All she'd wanted was sleep (and Crane there when she woke up for some reason). In the end, they showed up at her house because Hank came to his senses a few minutes later and ran after them.

'Your luggage is still in my car,' he said, 'and I know you'll have to call a taxi anyway...let me just drive you home. Please.' She didn't argue, and was glad when Crane didn't let go of her hand, at least he would be coming with, she wouldn't be stuck in the car alone with Hank. They thanked Hank for his kindness, and Crane carried her luggage into her bedroom. The last she saw of him was when he disappeared from her room saying he was going to make her coffee.

Five hours of sleep, a long shower and a cup of coffee later, she's opening the door into the cabin, falling into the old habit she had of barging in without knocking. It's only once she's inside and Crane's nowhere to be seen that she remembers that Katrina is back with him, she has to remember to knock all the time now.

Her voice is not much better than earlier in the afternoon, however, that doesn't stop her. 'Crane?' she calls for him, at the same time hoping that Katrina's not with him, which is plain wishful, because where else would Katrina be? It's just, she doesn't want to deal with awkwardness right now. It's eight in the evening, they've probably already had dinner and are getting ready for bed. But the thing is, she woke up two hours ago expecting to see him. Once she realised that she'd fallen asleep the moment she fell on her bed (and he'd obviously gone home), she couldn't help feeling like she had to see him, hence her coming to the cabin. Before she sees him, she hears his feet shuffling on the floor. He's very elegant and proper when he has his boots on, but without them, he drags his feet. She's noticed it twice when he removed his boots in the Archives, when they were putting in extra long hours.

'I thought I'd only be seeing you tomorrow,' he says as he comes into view, an easy smile on his lips. Looking at him, she guesses that he had been getting ready for bed. Abbie shrugs without giving him an answer, she doesn't know what to say to that herself.

'I trust you have rested well,' he says when she doesn't respond to his remark. It's confirmation to her that he isn't upset over the fact that she fell asleep.

'Five hours,' she tells him, wondering if he can hear her from where he is, 'I won't be able to sleep now, not for a while anyway. Luckily, my shift starts in the afternoon tomorrow.' Usually, she wouldn't assess him physically, because she generally expected him to be the same, but after six days, she needs to recall how he's like. Her eyes roam all over his frame, shamelessly taking him in. He looks good, she likes that he looks good.

Apparently, he did hear what she said, he asks, 'What do you plan on doing with the rest of the night?'

Abbie presses her lips together, refusing to take a step further into the cabin, lest Katrina comes out and things turn awkward and then she has to leave prematurely. The truth is, she doesn't know what she'll do with the rest of the evening, she isn't even sure why she came to the cabin at so late an hour.

'I don't know.'

'Would you like some coffee?' he starts moving into the kitchen, but still she doesn't move.

'I had coffee.'

'All right,' he frowns. It's not that they have nothing to say to each other that he's being quieter than usual, it's more that he seems to be waiting for something from her, as if she's supposed to be directing their conversation. Abbie can't stand the dancing around anymore, she asks, 'Is Katrina sleeping?'

'No,' he says.

'Uh...where is she?'

'She's gone back to Abraham,' he tells her clearly. She doesn't detect any sign of sadness in his words. It's curious.

'Oh,' Abbie is taken aback, but not surprised by the fact, 'uh...would you like to talk about it?'

'No,' he says again, keeping his eyes fixed on her. Abbie sighs in relief, not caring if he sees it or not, 'Good,' she rasps, 'because we've had that conversation twice already, after Kindred and the Weeping Lady. I think by now you get it, don't you?' She wants to be worried about him for the effect Katrina's decision has on him, but more than that, she doesn't want to taint her evening with thoughts of why Katrina does stupid things.

To her surprise, Ichabod lets out a small laugh, 'Believe me, I wasn't planning on discussing her.'

He might mean tonight, but she gets the feeling he might mean ever. For a man who was left by his wife, he looks very unbothered. It's only that she doesn't have the patience to wonder why. She came to the cabin, because of him, she still isn't sure why she came really, but she knows it's not because of Katrina.

'Could I perhaps then offer you dinner?' he asks, completing his journey into the kitchen. Abbie follows him into the kitchen, liking it much better that Katrina's not there.

'I don't want to eat,' she tells him, leaning against the sink next to him. His face turns to hers, and they stare long and hard at each other. Abbie notices the change in his eyes, something has changed between them, she knows that much from the look in his eyes.

'I suppose you'd like to discuss what happened earlier?'

She knows exactly what he's talking about, what she doesn't know is why he's sounding shy all of a sudden, it makes her smile. 'You mean when we kissed?'

It hadn't been her intention to talk about it tonight particularly, she thought they would wait until the chance provided itself.

'I swear to you,' he turns his body towards her, 'that hadn't been my intention. But I'm afraid now that it's happened, we cannot take it back.'

'Crane, are you apologising for kissing me?'

'I'm afraid I'm not,' he tells her. She imagined he would say yes, his answer silences her thoughts, cutting out the words she had ready for him. All she's able to do is blink at him.

'Miss Mills, yesterday, I prepared myself to welcome you back. I left early before the sun was out, to gather my thoughts. When you were away, I found that I couldn't get through the day without speaking to you...I've spoken to you more in those four days than I did to Katrina who was here with me. I missed your company sorely. Even with my wife who I loved more than any other with me, I wasn't satisfied.'

'Crane,' she starts, trying to stop him, but he doesn't let her continue.

'I didn't understand why I craved for your presence so. It was most peculiar to me that I depended on you for my happiness...it was for that reason that I went out to collect my thoughts...and here is the truth Miss Mills-'

'There's something between us,' she completes his sentence. Whether or not he was going to phrase it that way, she only knows it's along the lines of what he would've said.

'I know that somehow things have changed between us,' she shrugs as if it's no big discovery, except it is. It wasn't until today when she saw him at the precinct that she realised what all her nights of pining in New York meant.

'I was so busy over there during the day that I hardly got the chance to think about anything else. But at night, I would return to my room, and I'd go through my phone, just looking for anything from you. I just thought your presence had grown on me that was all. I really missed you Crane, it's unbelievable how much I missed you. It's more than I thought I did actually.'

'As did I,' he inches closer to her, 'it took me a whole day of pondering to reach the conclusion that you'd become more than a friend to me. You were the first person I spoke to every morning in this century, and the last face I saw at the end of the day...when that suddenly changed, I changed as well. I hated you being away all that time.' In a second, Abbie no longer has private space, because he's invaded it. He also traps her between the sink and himself as he positions himself in front of her. His hands stealthily move to circle her wrists, keeping her arms at her sides. She has no power to protest, or ask what he's doing. She knows what he's going to do, only this time, he doesn't ask for her permission as he did earlier, he dips right in, taking her lips with his own. The effect is instantaneous, Abbie thaws into the kiss, giving off a tiny moan that dies in his mouth. Before she loses herself in it, Abbie draws back.

'Don't do that,' she whispers, looking into his eyes. She makes no attempt to free her wrists from his grasp. Ichabod frowns, he doesn't understand.

'My cycle started today,' she explains softly, 'which means my hormones are all over the place. This could turn into something else really fast for me.'

'Your cycle?'

'Women stuff. Point is, don't kiss me. I'd like you to, but don't do it.' Ignoring her request, he bows his head in for a second kiss. Abbie knows it's coming, because he takes his time lowering his head. And then, they're kissing again. She's kissing him back, as gently as he's kissing her. She wants to stop him, she wants them to stop, but her lips win the war. It's no use fighting it, she reasons with herself, it would've happened another time anyway. She lets him have the kiss, and he lets go of her wrists to cup the back of her neck and her face. This kiss is different, it's gentle yes, but communicative of things they'd just confessed. She lets herself have the kiss for selfish reasons.

To gasp for air, Ichabod draws back from her face, inhaling deeply, without letting her go.

'Crane,' her voice is nothing above a throaty whisper, the kiss has done that to her, 'I'm serious, please don't do that again.'

'My apologies,' he rests his forehead on hers.

'And don't apologise either,' she tells him. She angles her head so that her cheek is pasted on his beard-covered one, her mouth close enough to his ear.

'This is new,' she starts, having to close her eyes to recover from her emotions, 'to both of us. We just found out...we can't deny that there's something here. But it doesn't mean we have to dive into it.'

'She left me for Abraham,' he tries to reason with her, able to guess the train of thought she is going with. Abbie sighs, he doesn't understand.

'Crane there was that day, Katrina was sick...I offered to get her tea and bring you food, and you shut me out,' she reminds him. The memory is nothing good to remember, it's quite unpleasant to be honest.

'It hurt, it was a stab, because in two seconds you'd gone from my Crane to another Crane.' She keeps herself from saying Katrina's Crane; she's not pettily jealous, Katrina came first.

'I don't want to try this...' partly of their own accord, her arms close around his waist, 'what happens when Katrina comes back and I'm this invisible person again?'

All of a sudden, Ichabod breaks their contact, pulling them apart, a startled look on his face. To keep him calm, she frames his face in his hands, producing one of those smiles she only brings out for him and Jenny, a mixture of fear and bravery sort of smile. It's a smile that usually means she doesn't like what will happen next more than the next person would.

'Crane, you know me, Grace Abigail Mills, I'm not impulsive or irrational...you also know that I'm right in thinking that you haven't let go of Katrina, and I don't expect you to, you met her before you knew me...I just...we can't explore the something that exists between us.'

'Surely you're not suggesting that we act as though it's not real?'

'No Crane, I can't do that anymore than you can...I'll never deny it, it's just we can't...plus, we don't really know what it is yet. Maybe I need to go away again for us to figure it out.'

'Don't even make light of that,' he says seriously, pulling his face back from her hands.

'I guess not,' she sucks the inside of her cheek, 'it sucks being away.'

'I missed you immensely Abbie,' he says, scooping her up in his arms, 'I wouldn't stop comparing Katrina to you. And when I got here, I found a note saying that she couldn't be happy with me while I didn't want her.' As suddenly as he'd gathered her into is arms, he set her down again, taking a step back from her, but making sure his hands remained on her. Abbie speaks, 'Let go of me Crane.' She's asking him to do it, so that she isn't the one who frees herself from his hands. Despite her earlier words, she does want to see what giving them a chance would be like, but reality is reality. They're not fully aware what it is between them, she doesn't want to risk their hearts in search of something that could just be temporary, false and induced by a misinterpreted sense of dependant comradeship.

He does as she asks, removing his hands. 'Why did you come here tonight Abbie?' he asks.

'I'm not sure,' she tells him the truth, 'I guess knowing I could come see you after a time of not...I just couldn't pass it up.'

'And isn't that a sign enough?'

'Crane...you know I'm right. I want to try this, but you know trying isn't the best there is. Katrina left you, she hasn't left your heart. I'm not going to ask you to forget her. Let us just agree to leave it at this.'

He looks ready to protest, Abbie stops him, stepping away from the sink, 'That means the kissing too. Listen,' she starts walking past him, 'let's take a lot of time to think about this. It's pretty new and sudden, I mean if I didn't go away, we wouldn't be here. What do you say?' Ichabod takes a moment to consider her words, giving in at last by nodding quietly. With a tiny smile, Abbie holds out a hand for him to shake, 'Shall we seal this accord?' He does take her hand firmly, being infected by her smile.

'I should get back.'

She doesn't want to, but she's spent her voice, who knows if she'll be able to speak tomorrow. He looks at her with eyes filled with sadness, causing her to feel disturbed inside, but she ignores the feeling.

'Have a good night Miss Mills,' he bids her. She knows him, which is why she knows he's not okay with their agreement even though he knows she's right. There's nothing she can do about it, all that's left is to see what happens in the future.

She walks out of the kitchen without turning back, 'Night Crane.'


	11. Chapter 11

**Because some of you were being incredible meanies [it was the first time I didn't feel bad at all (like WOW), I was just laughing my head off], I've decided to add two more chapters. Thank you Sharon B for pointing out that I could actually continue, which I did think to way before the fic was over. Next chapter is the ABSOLUTE final chapter, which means I really care about you guys enough not to shatter your hearts. I know FF is an escape for some of us. This chapter is short, and is only designed to create a foundation for the next chapter. **

Exactly a month ago today, in this very cabin, she told him that they had to take time to think about what it is they truly mean to each other. It's been a difficult month, one filled with hypothetical situations in his mind of them being together. He's been the perfect gentleman of course, never creating situations that escalated above what he could handle. But it's been a difficult month; the only good that came from it, was how he had more than enough time to assess both his relationships with Katrina and Abbie. On the one hand, he had Katrina, his wife, the person he'd once believed to be his soul mate, and on the other, he had Abbie. The thing about Abbie was, he knew exactly where to begin without reaching an ending. The same couldn't be said about Katrina, for one thing, he didn't really know where to begin, and for another, although he knew where to end. For another, he gave less thought to Katrina than to Abbie.

The month didn't fly by, it crawled, he felt each day dragging on only to torment him. But today, he's had enough of torture, something has to be done.

'Miss Mills?' he calls for her attention all the way from his chair.

'What is it Crane?' she asks without looking up. In the past month, he's noticed that she looks at him, only when it's truly necessary.

He stands and walks over to her at the table, 'Well,' he begins, placing his hands behind his back, 'I was remembering something you said to me.'

'No,' she disagrees with him, setting her pen down and looking at him, 'You weren't remembering. You've been thinking about it for quite some time.'

Nothing she said is incorrect, only he doesn't bother to wonder how she knows, he stopped wondering about Abbie's psychic abilities when it comes to him.

Leaning her head to one side, she asks, 'Are you gonna tell me?'

Ichabod clears his throat, 'I would like to ask you out on a date.' He got that exact line from a movie he watched a few days ago, in fact, he got quite a few things from the movie, things he wants to try on Abbie (he only hopes she hasn't watched the movie).

'I never said anything like that to you Crane,' Abbie says through a smile.

'No,' he responds, 'I'm the one saying it to you...actually, I'm asking if you would go on a date with me.' Abbie is silent for a moment, narrowing her eyes at him. The silence, short though it is, kills him.

'What do you say?' he asks.

'To a date with you? I don't think it's a good idea,' she finally answers. Ichabod is taken aback, what does she mean it's not a good idea?

'And why ever not? A month ago today, you told me to take time to think about my feelings for you-'

'So that's what this is about?' she interrupts him, 'That's what you've been thinking about all day?'

'I don't know if you've noticed Miss Mills,' he says, bringing one hand from behind him to gesture as he speaks, 'but I have been trying my hardest to comply with your wishes this past month-'

'I noticed,' Abbie tells him, 'believe me.'

He inhales, a sign that he doesn't like her cutting through his sentences so much, 'I cannot ignore this any longer Miss Mills. I've had ample time to organise my thoughts, and I've reached a conclusion.'

'I know,' she shrugs, 'That's why I don't think it's a good idea.'

'Explain to me please,' he begs patiently, 'why it is not.'

Abbie sighs, 'You know how you've been trying your hardest to comply with my wishes this past month?' She's using the words he used for a reason, he thinks.

'You're not the only one. And a date, where we don't talk about demons and Moloch or Henry, or run for our lives...yeah, that's treading dangerous waters Crane, I'm not sure I would survive.'

'Are you so bent against the idea of the two of us?' he questions her with a frown.

'No,' she shakes her head, 'I'm not.' Now, he really doesn't understand, she says one thing, then another, what is he to make of it?

'Is your answer no then?' He needs clarity, because with it, he can carry out plan B. Plan B is practical, but he would much rather he carried it out at a more suitable time, like on the date.

'I just said it wasn't a good idea, I didn't say no,' she laughs.

His face ignites, 'It's a yes?' Abbie nods for his answer, 'Where are we going? When is it?'

'Tomorrow night. Here at my home, seeing as I have no money to afford any eating establishment.' He'll have to provide her with a list of things he wants her to bring along of course, but the important thing is that she's said yes. He gives her the warmest smile he can muster, to show his gratitude for her agreeing to the next step.

'It's a date. Should I bring anything?' she asks, knowing there must be something thing he'd want her to bring with.

'As a matter of fact...' he starts then trails off, remembering how they'd agreed to give their feelings some thought a month ago. Ichabod holds out his hand to her, 'Shall we seal this accord?'

'Sealed,' she smiles as she grasps his hand. When she lets go, he begins to leave the table, 'I've made a list of the things I will require...'

'Wow, you had it all planned didn't you?' Abbie says after him. Before he can answer, a knock sounds on the cabin, stilling him in his tracks. Abbie gets up from the table to answer it. She pulls the door back to reveal, to Ichabod's surprise (and he imagines Abbie's as well), after so much passed time, no one other than Katrina.


	12. Chapter 12

Monday morning, she's at the cabin, knocking for entry. She tells herself it's not going to be weird or uncomfortable for her, that they'll carry on as if nothing abnormal happened on Friday. The thing is, something abnormal did happen, Katrina returned. And at what great timing; at precisely the moment that Abbie had been willing to start something –whatever that something was going to be- with Crane, they'd made plans and everything. She hates the life she's allowed herself to get mixed up in. Her whole life would've been much easier had she gone to Quantico when she had the chance, but no, some Ichabod Crane showed up and he had much to say about a Headless Horseman and other disturbing things, and she felt obliged to stay and get to the bottom of it all. She really should've taken her leave when she had the chance.

No answer comes from inside, she knocks again. Harder this time, just in case they are up to other things and can't hear her knocking. Almost immediately, the door swings back, revealing Crane before her. Out of necessity, she takes a deep breath before she says anything to him. The last time they spoke, they were agreeing to have a date. Things can't get any more awkward than that, especially since the date never happened, and they didn't speak to each other all weekend. She expected him to call, or text, or anything really...just any form of communication to tell her anything. She knew of course that the date was off by default, but she still expected that he said something to her.

'Ready to go?' is the first thing she asks him. She should really ask him how he's doing this morning, or if he had a great weekend, it's just after Friday, everything seems broken. It was just as well that she'd prepared herself for disappointment from him at some point in the future, that came in handy when he didn't call Saturday night, or stop her from leaving on Friday.

'Just a moment,' he tells her, as though everything is well and fine between them. Well, technically, nothing's wrong between them, except that he'd asked her out, and his wife showed up. It's not like they need to talk about that.

'Aren't you coming in?' he asks as he turns to leave. She gives him one of her questioning looks, the one she likes to give him especially when he says something she can't wrap her head around. Why would she come in, she has no business in there. He shrugs and disappears. As he disappears, Katrina appears. Abbie can't keep from rolling her eyes; it's just what she needs, a very real, very human, very present wife of the man she has feelings for. A man, who she'd been ready to welcome into her life in a deeper way than before. A man, she realised would never change where Katrina was involved, she'd been an idiot to think things would be different somehow. So many times, she witnessed him using everything but his head where Katrina was concerned. But no, she thought after a month of recognising that he has feelings for her, he would somehow make different choices.

'Miss Mills,' the other woman smiles in welcome. The gesture has Abbie scratching her nose with her thumb to keep from screwing her face in the most unpleasant way. It's not that she doesn't have time for Katrina, it's not that at all.

'Morning Katrina,' Abbie greets after a moment, she doesn't return the smile though. She'll be nice, but fake, she won't. It isn't about the ruined possibility of a relationship with Crane, it's more that Katrina doesn't make sound decisions, which makes Abbie distrust her so much.

'I take it you're here for Ichabod?' she asks.

If there was going to be a moment today that would render Abbie speechless, it just happened. Of course she's at the cabin for Crane, why else would she be there? Abbie can't understand what goes on inside Katrina's mind.

'Were you guys busy or something?' she asks without expecting an answer.

'No,' Katrina's head shakes, 'no. We weren't busy.' There's something in the way that Katrina talks that Abbie can't stand, mostly it sounds like she's forcing herself to be soft. Abbie shakes her head, hoping to get the thought out of her head, it's too early in the morning.

'Did you have a good weekend?' Katrina tries at a conversation.

'Okay um,' Abbie scratches her nose again (to keep from saying something mean) 'I'd really like to sit down and have girly conversations about what I did all weekend, but it's a bit too early in the morning to be girly.' And besides, she says inside, I'm too determined not to talk about the weekend that never happened, least of all with you Katrina.

Just in time, Crane comes out from wherever he was, a small wrapped box in his hands.

'Shall we be going?' he asks Abbie with a smile, looking at Katrina. Great, Abbie thinks (just managing to not smack her palm against her forehead), Katrina's coming too; what else will this day provide me with?

'Katrina's coming?' Abbie only hopes her question sounds neutral. Once again, she hates the life she's allowed herself to get mixed up in.

'No,' both the Cranes announce at once.

'Okay,' Abbie sighs in relief inwardly, that saves her a lot, 'let's go Crane.' She doesn't wait for him to move, she starts leaving without knowing if he's following behind her or not. She walks to the car in less steps than she normally would, getting in and starting it while Crane is still emerging from the cabin. She hoots the horn impatiently. What is it that has kept him inside when he's had all weekend with Katrina?

Although she's trying hard not to give it any thought, the not-date, keeps popping up in her head, and she wants to smack herself for being stupid all over again. She'd asked him for time, and he was the first to break, had he not broken, she wouldn't have caved either. His date suggestion put ideas in her head, but now they've all been crushed to dust. Yes, she had prepared herself for disappointment, she did expect something like that from him in the distant future, but not ten seconds before their future even began. Friday night she went home and thought a lot about it, she thought about her feelings for him, hell, she even wondered how they would go about their relationship now that Katrina was back from Headless. In short, she'd been prepared to give them a chance, she thought she deserved some good after a long period of so much negativity. It's no use thinking about it now, she tells herself when he walks around to the passengers' side (the wrapped box still in his hands) and climbs into the car.

'I can tell that there's something on your mind Miss Mills,' he turns to her. Ignoring him, she turns the key in the ignition. Of course she's got something on her mind.

'Are you not planning on telling me about it?' he pries again, clearly not getting that she doesn't want to talk about it. Well, she does, but she doesn't.

'And that would be about..?' she plays dumb.

'What is on your mind,' he provides.

'Nothing's on my mind that I want to share with you Crane.' She pulls the car out of its parked space, beginning to pull away from the cabin. He lets it go, allowing silence in the car for the first three minutes of the drive, until they are on the main road.

'You didn't show up Saturday night,' he says to her, looking straight ahead. To avoid crashing into something accidently, because his words are reason enough, Abbie pulls off the road onto the side of the road. She turns in her seat to face him, a confused look on her face.

'I'm sorry,' she starts, 'I didn't know that was still on.' She figured, when he didn't call, that it was off, but now she's trying to get him to see through her eyes.

'We sealed on it,' he argues, his eyebrows drawing together.

'Oh. Um, I guess when Katrina showed up, I just assumed things changed.' That's not exactly how things went on inside her head. When Katrina showed up, she thought Crane would talk to her and explain how things were, that he would explain that he wanted to move on, with Abbie. She actually felt like a mistress just thinking those things.

'I assumed,' he faces her fully as well, 'that you would know better.'

'Sure,' she half snaps, 'because when it comes to Katrina you and I are always on the same page. Not to mention, that you always choose her, why would Saturday have been any different?'

Crane looks as though he can't believe his ears, 'Perhaps that I told you I had enough of waiting was reason to not doubt me.' Abbie wonders if what they're having is a polite argument, it doesn't feel like it, but it doesn't not feel like they're not either.

'Can you hear yourself?' she asks seriously, 'Does it sound like you're making sense?'

'Yes,' he nods, 'however, I am realising only now that you doubt me, perhaps have always doubted me.' Abbie dodges that statement, she doesn't want to get into it right now.

'You didn't call, you didn't text. I waited and waited, but nothing...how exactly did you think I felt Crane? Knowing Katrina was back?'

'I expected that you would know that I didn't only ask you for a chance because Katrina hadn't come back,' his words are firm and reach her ears very clearly, 'I told you what my feelings on the matter are. But I understand now that you didn't think me serious at all.'

'Crane,' she places a hand on her forehead, 'I like you, you know that, I know that, it's not a secret. I was ready to try with you, I was, but you proved that you will always choose Katrina.'

By the look on his face, she knows she's hurt him, her words did some damage to him, 'I didn't choose Katrina this time, you only assumed I did.' As soon as the words have left his mouth, he turns back in his seat, looking straight ahead. Abbie is left to think about his words. There's much she wants to ask, and much more she wants to say on the whole subject, because now that they've started about it, she wants to get it all out.

However, all she can do is resign within herself and say, 'You did choose Katrina.' She doesn't know if she's saying to convince herself or if she's accusing him.

'Friday night, after you went home,' he says, not turning to her, 'I sat down with Katrina and spoke to her. I told her of my feelings for you, and I told her that although I loved her, it wasn't the same any longer. She didn't like to hear my words, but neither did they surprise her. We spoke and spoke of the different directions our lives were taking in this century, and I told her that I wanted to try and go my own direction with you. Was it a pleasant conversation? No, it wasn't. Was it worth it? I thought it was.'

She absorbs all his words, desperately trying even to read between the lines, so that she doesn't miss a thing. She never thought it happened that way. Her silence causes him to continue speaking.

'I meant what I said to you on Friday. During the past month, I prepared myself for my next encounter with Katrina...I'm wounded that you think so little of me.'

'Crane...' she begins, unable to continue, because she doesn't know how to start apologising to him. She has been so wrong, in thinking him the same person he used to be, in getting ready to sweep them under the carpet. She has no words ready for him.

'It's quite all right Miss Mills,' he says, his voice pained, 'at least this way, I know where I stand with you.'

Abbie bites her lip, she has to find a way to fix this, 'Crane, I'm sorry...I just thought...I'm sorry Crane.' He doesn't give her a reply, instead, he places the wrapped box between them. Abbie is distracted by it for a moment.

'Crane,' she tries once again, 'I'm sorry for making assumptions. I guess I was just afraid that you'd choose Katrina, that I made you choose her over me. It was wrong of me. I'm sorry Crane.'

'That was in the past,' he tells her, 'I have changed.'

'I'm sorry,' she repeats, desperate that he accepts her apology.

'Are you really sorry?' he asks, his face trying to conceal a small breaking smile.

'I am,' Abbie nods, and he turns back to her.

'Would you be willing to prove it?' She notices that his face has changed, from being hurt, it looks excited. Abbie shrugs, knowing she's getting herself into something she might not like, 'I guess.'

He smiles, 'Then I suggest a date.' She doesn't get his obsession with dates, but it's much better than she thought he would ask. And she gets the feeling it's the beginning of something new for them.

'A date? You never give up do you?'

'Not when I want what I want.'

There's much to be discussed, so much that they haven't touched on; Katrina's role in his life, their marital status (although death did its part on that already, they only have to be willing to accept it), how they would move on from there, but she knows there's no better time for those things than the date. None of those things are date topic material for typical people, but since when are they typical?

'Okay, date it is...we'll see how it goes from there.' She starts the car again, a small smile starting on her lips.

'You'll make it this time?' he picks up the box.

'I promise.'

'Good, because I'll give this to you then.' He waves the gift in her face, Abbie struggles with her thoughts; should she grab it or should she wait for the date.

'What is it?' she wants to know.

'Make it to the date and you will find out...I meant to give it to you on Friday, and now, but I thought of a date.' He explains. Abbie doesn't care for his explanations, not really, she's more concerned with their date (and the gift).

'I'll make it,' she promises yet again. This time she knows she will, nothing will keep her from this date. It will be the beginning of something good for them. For now, she doesn't know where the date will go, and there's a tiny part of her that loves not knowing, but she's starting to believe that it's going to be the start of something good.


End file.
